Fused Bottle Glass Heart Windchime Part 1

rvshrtfiberToday we are going to make the second project of the month with our kiln carving pattern. If you have already downloaded the pattern and used it for the suncatcher project, I hope you saved the cut out parts! If not, no worries, just use the stencil and cut out another set. (This is part 1 of a 2 part tutorial.)

If you haven’t downloaded the pattern yet, you’ll need to do that before we start. It’s free!

Step 1:

Find (or cut out) the heart and flame portion of your kiln carving pattern from last week. If you need to review the instructions, you can take a quick second and do that.

Step 2:

Glass! I’m using a clear bottle that has been cut in half and flattened. (a Bicardi Bottle, if you’re interested).

clear glass bottle pieces for fused bottle windchime

Two pieces of clear bottle glass for a windchime.

Step 3:

Put one piece of glass over the fiber paper and trace your wind chime shape. I’m using an oval, similar to the sun catcher from last week.

bottle glass for fused windchime

Choosing bottle glass for kiln carving pattern.

Editing the glass for windchimes.

Sketch your wind chime shape on the glass.

Step 4:

Cut the first piece of glass on the lines you’ve drawn, and then use the first piece as a template for the second piece. Cut the second piece to fit.

fused bottle glass wind chime kiln carving

Kiln carving with bottle glass

trace the 2nd piece of bottle glass

Trace the shape on 2nd piece of glass

Step 5:

Now we’re ready to add the hanging loops at the top of the chime and the loops for the chimes themselves.

Put the first piece of glass on the kiln carving pattern so we can see where to add loops.

fusing in loops for hanging

Add a glue dot to hold in the fused in loops.

I’m going to put two hanging loops on the top, one on each side, and 3 chime loops across the bottom.

adding fused in hanging loops

Glue dots for fused in loops

Once you have your glue dots on there, you can add nichrome or brass loops that will be fused in. (You can make your own brass loops, or you can buy ready to use brass loops in the shop.)

fused in brass loops for hanging

Add brass loops to glue dots

Step 6:

Add the 2nd layer of glass and move the whole project to a prepared kiln shelf.

bottle glass wind chime assembled

Assemble the wind chime

assembled wind chime kiln carving

Assembled wind chime with kiln carving pattern

Step 7:

Fire to a full fuse using the full fuse schedule for 1/4″ thick glass.

fused bottle glass wind chime

Fused bottle glass wind chime kiln carving project

Now, you could take this and add chimes and a hanging wire right away, OR, you could hang onto it until next week when I will show you how to add color frit to it and refire.  See Flaming Heart Windchime Part 2

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